Tied at 14-all as they entered the top of the 7th, the Tigers brought in Cooper Shaw to face Troy’s number two, three and four hitters, who had combined for six base hits and four runs scored in the game. Shaw struck out the first two batters and got Troy’s cleanup hitter to ground out, giving Mansfield a chance to win the game in the bottom half.

Troy looked to extend the game into extra innings and got two quick outs .. on a pop-up and a strikeout .. but #7 hitter Jason Harer and Cameron Caldwell drew back-to-back walks, and Harer wound up on third base as  #9 hitter Collin Oakes fell behind 0-2 in the count.

Troy’s game-extending third strike got away from the Trojans’ catcher and Harer was able to sneak home to give the Tigers the big divisional win, 15-14.

Shaw earned the win for North Penn-Mansfield after relieving freshman Isaac Sparks on the mound. Sparks threw four innings and allowed five runs (3 earned) on eight Troy base hits while striking out three. Harer started and went two innings, giving up nine runs (7 earned) on four hits and four walks with one K.

Troy scored four first-inning runs and took a 9-0 lead into the bottom of the second inning. The Tigers got a leadoff, solo home run from Liam Shaut and used doubles by Alex Davis and Riley Oakes, a single from Noah Musser and a walk by Andy Hermansen to cut the Troy lead to 9-5.

The Trojans added three more runs in the third and the 12-5 score held until the Tigers’ half of the fourth, when Davis walked, Hermansen was hit by a pitch and Shaw delivered a three-run bomb to start a four run inning for Mansfield. 

Up three at 12-9, Troy added a single run in the fifth before Mansfield went back to work in the bottom five, getting a leadoff single from Collin Oakes and a two-run home run from Hermansen to make it 13-11 Troy. After Shaw drew a walk, Easton Pequignot, Shaut and Harer all singled and Shaw and Pequignot each crossed home plate to tie the game up at 13-all as they went to the sixth.

Troy retook the lead with a run in the top half, but Mansfield answered when Collin Oakes walked and Hermansen doubled to tie it up once again, 14-14, setting up Shaw’s perfect 7th frame and the Tigers’ walk-off win.

North Penn-Mansfield collected 14 base hits in the win. Shaut led the way with three while Davis, Hermansen and Pequignot had two each and Shaw, Riley Oakes, Collin Oakes, Harer and Musser each had one. 

Hermansen finished with a home run, a double and reached base all five times he came up, scoring three runs. Davis, Shaw, Pequignot, Collin Oakes and Harer scored twice each while Musser and Shaut each scored once. 

The Tigers (9-3 overall, 7-3 NTL, 6-3 NTL-I) snap their only losing streak of the season (2 games) with the win and are scheduled to return to action on Monday when they host South Williamsport.

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